Blog 1: Everything Hockey
Part 1: The Biomechanics Behind Common Injuries
Hockey isn't just fast and physical, it's biomechanically unique. The combination of single-leg propulsion on an unstable surface (ice), repeated rotational forces through the spine, and high-velocity impacts creates injury patterns you won't see in other sports. Understanding why these injuries happen is the first step to preventing them.
The Skating Stride: Where Most Problems Start
The Biomechanics:
Every skating stride involves:
Hip abduction and external rotation (pushing out and back)
Single-leg stance phase requiring massive hip stabilization
Contralateral trunk rotation to maintain forward momentum
Rapid hip flexion during recovery phase
What Goes Wrong:
When your hip abductors (glute medius/minimus) are weak, your femur internally rotates and adducts during the stance phase. This creates a cascade:
Knee tracks inward (valgus stress on MCL)
Hip flexors overwork to compensate, becoming chronically tight
Lumbar spine side-bends to maintain balance, loading facet joints asymmetrically
Opposite hip doesn't extend fully, limiting stride length and power
The Real Issue: Most hockey players have a dominant pushing leg. Over thousands of strides, this creates measurable asymmetries - one hip more mobile but less stable, the other more stable but restricted. This is why you'll often see players with left hip impingement and right knee pain (or vice versa).
The Groin Complex: Why It's More Than Just "Tight Adductors"
Anatomical Reality:
What players call "groin pain" usually involves:
Adductor longus, brevis, magnus (5 separate muscles with different fiber orientations)
Rectus abdominis attachment at the pubis
Hip joint capsule and labrum
Iliopsoas tendon
Pubic symphysis
Why Hockey Destroys Groins:
The skating stride requires your adductors to:
Decelerate hip abduction eccentrically (controlling the push-out)
Generate force concentrically during the push-back
Stabilize the pelvis during single-leg stance
Do this 2,000+ times per game
When core stability is inadequate, the adductors become both prime movers AND stabilizers - a job they're not designed for. The pubic attachments get chronically overloaded, leading to tendinopathy or even sports hernia.
The Goalie Exception: Goalies have unique groin demands. The butterfly position requires extreme hip internal rotation and abduction simultaneously. Most goalies have hip capsule adaptations that allow this, but when hip mobility becomes asymmetrical, the pubic symphysis gets sheared during pushes.
Shoulder Injuries: The Rotational Force Problem
The Slap Shot Mechanics:
A proper slap shot involves:
Wind-up: Trunk rotation + shoulder external rotation (cocking phase)
Acceleration: Explosive trunk counter-rotation + shoulder internal rotation
Follow-through: Deceleration of the entire kinetic chain
Peak shoulder internal rotation velocity: 7,000+ degrees/second in elite players. This is one of the fastest human movements.
Where It Breaks Down:
Limited thoracic spine rotation forces compensatory shoulder motion
Weak scapular stabilizers (serratus anterior, lower trap) cause anterior shoulder instability
Poor timing between trunk and arm creates excessive torque at the AC joint
Most shoulder injuries in hockey are overuse, not trauma. It's the accumulation of 10,000 shots with faulty mechanics that tears the labrum, not the one big hit.
Lower Back: The Rotational Stress Accumulator
The Problem:
Hockey requires thousands of rotational movements (shots, passes, checks) while your hips are in flexion and your spine is slightly forward-flexed. This position:
Loads the posterior disc annulus
Creates shear forces at L4-L5 and L5-S1
Reduces core stability (rectus abdominis is lengthened)
The Mechanism:
Each slap shot creates:
Compressive force: 4-6x body weight through lumbar spine
Rotational torque: 200+ Nm
Lateral bending component from weight shift
Over a season, this can create:
Facet joint irritation (side-specific back pain)
Disc degeneration (central or posterolateral)
Pars stress fractures in young players (spondylolysis)
Why Some Players Never Get Back Pain:They have exceptional hip mobility (especially rotation) and core timing. Their hips create the rotation, their core transfers it, and their spine stays relatively neutral. When hips don't rotate well, the lumbar spine compensates.
Knee Injuries: The MCL and Meniscus
Why Hockey Players Tear MCLs:
The cutting/pivoting mechanism in hockey is unique:
Inside edge of skate digs in
Knee flexes while hip internally rotates
Upper body rotates opposite direction
This creates valgus + rotational force on knee
If hip abductors don't control femoral position, the MCL gets overloaded. Most MCL sprains in hockey are Grade I-II from chronic microtrauma, not single incidents.
Meniscus Problems:
The deep knee flexion during skating loads the posterior horn of the meniscus. Add rotation, and you get shearing forces. Degenerative meniscus tears in hockey players often start from chronic posterior horn stress, not acute trauma.
Warning Signs Most Players Ignore
Asymmetrical Tightness:
One hip flexor always tighter than the other → groin injury risk
One hamstring always tighter → opposite hip/back compensation
Can't rotate equally both directions → shoulder or back injury coming
Performance Decline:
Stride length decreasing → hip mobility loss
Slap shot velocity dropping → kinetic chain breakdown
Slower first three steps → hip strength deficit
Subtle Pain:
"Tightness" in groin that needs more warmup each time → tendinopathy
Lower back "stiff" in mornings → disc or facet irritation
Shoulder "catches" occasionally → labral or capsule issue
How Chiropractic Care With Dr. Keirstyn Actually Helps:
We're Not Just "Cracking Backs":
Joint Mobility Assessment: We identify which joints aren't moving optimally (usually hip, T-spine, shoulder) and restore motion before muscles compensate
Movement Pattern Analysis: We watch you gait analysis, squat, lunge, rotate - looking for the biomechanical faults that lead to injury
Tissue Quality Work: We address muscle hypertonicity, fascial restrictions, and trigger points that alter movement patterns
Performance Enhancement: Better joint mechanics = better force transfer = more powerful skating and shooting
The Real Value: Catching issues before they become injuries. Most "sudden" hockey injuries have been building for months - we can identify the warning signs.
If you’re feeling tight hips, sore knees, shoulder pain or a nagging back ache on or off the ice, book a session at Endurance Therapeutics today — let’s keep you playing at your best all season! Click here to book today!